TEHRAN – A total of 355 historical relics are up for restoration by teams of cultural heritage experts and restorers in the western province of Ilam, CHTN reported. 

Photography, identification, and documentation of the relics are also parts of the restoration project, which will be done under the supervision of archaeologists and cultural heritage experts, Abdolmalek Shanbehzadeh said on Sunday. 

He also noted that preserving the historical relics and monuments show the important role of the culture in each society.   

Home to almost half of Iran’s UNESCO sites, western Iran is a land of hospitable people, wild extremes, and wilder history. The region also witnessed the rise and fall of many great empires once bordering Mesopotamia, Ottoman Turkey, and Czarist Russia.

The name “Ilam” comes from “Elam”, the pre-historic civilization that ruled the area in modern southwest Iran from 2700 BC to 539 BC. Archaeological findings dates human settlement of the area to around 5000 BC.

ABU/MG